Lubricating device



June 28, 1949. I FOLKE ET AL 2,47 ,661

LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed March 28, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 as 73 797, Z96070 50 2/ 35 72 I3 52 FIG. 3

INVENTORSQ BENGT E. FOL HE BHLPII H. 5/15 F1920 Mam/m ATTORNEY June 28,1949. B. E. FOLKE ET AL LUBRICATING DEVICE Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March28,. 1945 FIG. 7

INVENTORSSI Bf/YGT E. FOL/(E EHLPHHJHEPHED ATTORNEY June 28, 1949.

Filed March 28, 1945 B. E. FOLKE ET AL LUBRICATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet3 60 3 Fla/ 79 66 79 a as m. O 0 3'. -64 Z 2 2765 90 INVENTORS:BENGTEFOLHE EH1. Pl! [1. SHE FRED him/Mm ATTORNEY Patented June 28, 1949uurrso smres PATENT QF FItZE.

Bengt E. Fol-kc, Mamaroneck, and Ralph. H. Shepard, New York, N. Y'.,assignors to. Nathan Manufacturing, Company, New York, No Y a.corporation of New York- Application March; 28, 19% Serial Nor. 585%.

(CL. ESQ-27) 8 Claims. I.

This invention relates to apparatus used for lubricating aircraft. gasturbine engines.

Such apparatus must be capable of supplying oil to vital parts of. theengine at. varying atmose pheric pressures and under extreme temperaturefluctuations. The. apparatus must further be adapted to be operated atspeeds common to engines of that type.

It is the principal object ofi this invention to provide a device tomeet the aibresaid conditions which consists of a mechanical Iubricatoroperated at highspeed, a pump rotor for taking oil from a source. ofsupply and. discharging it. under pressure into the lubricator, of.another pump rotor for returning oil in excess of the amount that can behandledby the lubricator, as well as oil from a sump, to the source of.supply, all in a simple unitary housing. whereby joints and piping areeliminated and thereby the possibility of leaks.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a structure of thistype automatic. means for lubricating its internal working mechanism topermit operation at high speeds.

Another object is to provide in. such a structure means for cooling, andcarrying away the heat generated by, its internal. operating parts.

Still another object is to provide in this device an automaticallyfunctioning by-pass valve for returning. surplus .oil fed to theIubricator into the pump rotor returning thisoil to its source ofsupply, this valve being operable by the pressure in the oil linebetween the pump rotor supplying oil to the lubricator and thelu'bricator.

Still another object is to provide in such a structure means to preventinfiltration of. air into the oil lines.

A further object is toprovi'd'e a structure, embodying theaforesaidmeans that will be dependable in operation, can be manufacturedeconomically and, by virtue of its construction, lends itself readilyfor production in quantities.

Still further objects will become apparent in the followingspecification in which a preferred embodiment of the invention isdescribed and illustrated by means of the accompanying drawings in whichFig. 1 is a plan view of a lubricating device in accordance with theprinciples of the invention;

Fig. 2 is alongitudinalsectional view along the plane of linev 22 inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view-oi the right hand side of the device;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the left hand side of the device with -its.capremoved and part of the 2; actuating member for. the pistons. broken.away;

Fig. 5 a longitudinal sectional view along the plane oi line 5-5 in Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view oi the left: handpart oi the device. along the plane. oi line. E-Bin Fig. 4,. the.piston. being shown in, its. suction stroke Fig, I is a. fragmentarylongitudinal sectional view oi the. right. hand; part of. the devicealong the plane of line 't'l in 3.;

Fig, 8 is. CITOSSPSQCfi-Qllfil view along the. plane of line 8-8 in Fig.2;

a is a. fragmentary sectional view along the plane. of line 9i- & inFig. 5;,

Fig. 1D a. fragmentary longitudinal. sectional view along the. plane ofline llll.0 in Fig. 1.;

Fig. I]; is a cross sectional view along the. plane of line. I l-ll Fig.2.;

Fig. I2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through one of thev rotorsand its surrounding parts along the plane. of line l2-|'2 in Fig. 2.;

Fig. 13 is a. cross-sectional view along; the plane of line l3-l3 inFig. 2; and.

Fig. 14' is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to 6,, butwith the piston shown in its pressure strokeand illustrating amodification of the oil inlet to the lubricator housing.

Like characters of reference denote similar parts throughout the severalviews and: the fol.- lowing specification.

2!! is a housing having secured to it. at its left hand side a block itthrough the center of which a sliding shaft 22 extends surrounded by abushing 23. Sliding shaft 22 projects within the housing and has athickened portion 24' within the housing provided with an oblong slot 25and abutments 26 and 21 symmetrically disposed with respect to thisslot. An end 28 of the shaft is supported within a corresponding socketin the right hand wall of the. housing.

Diagonally disposed within the housing. and coaxially with slot 25 is aneccentric drive 29 having its one end 30 suitably iournalled within acap 3f and its other end 32 within 2. corresponding socket in the wallof the housing 20 as clearly shown in Fig. 8. 33 is a worm gear formingpart of this eccentric drive and 34 an eccentric adapted to contact theabutments 26 and 21 of portion 2.4 of the sliding shaft 22 whichreciprocates the sliding shaft while the drive is bein rotated. 35 isanother eccentric within the. slot 25' which, when the drive is rotated.will oscillate the sliding shaft while it is bein reciprocated byeccentric 34.

36 is a driving shaft. having its end portion 31 supported within a wallat the left hand side of the housing 29 and its other end 38 supportedwithin the housing as will be described later on. Drive shaft 36 isequipped with a worm 39 engaging worm wheel 33 of the eccentric drive.

The extreme left hand end of sliding shaft 22 projects outwardly fromthe block 2| and has secured to it a slotted disc or actuating memberAnnularly disposed in the block '2! and around sliding shaft 22 are aplurality of cylinders 4!. Each of the cylinders communicates by aninlet passage 42 to an annular chamber which in turn is in constantcommunication with an inlet 44 proper by a passage 45. Op-

posite the inlet passage 42 to each cylinder is a discharge passage 46in communication with an outlet 4'1 from the lubricator. This is shownclearly in Fig. 5. It will be seen that the block 2| has one inlet 44and a plurality of outlets 4?, each outlet communicating With its owncylinder and each cylinder bein in communication with the centralchamber 43 within the block which receives its supply of oil throughpassage 45 from the main inlet 44.

In each of the cylinders is a slidably disposed piston 48 having itsextreme left hand end project outwardly from the block 2| and having anextension 49 offset with respect to the axis of the piston and connectedthereto by a bridge 50. Each of the offset extensions 49 is movablyfitted within one of the slots of actuating member 4|]. Each extensionis threaded, and each piston is fastened to the member 40 by clampingthe bridge against the inner face of the member 40 and by screwing aregulating nut onto the threaded extension and against the outer face ofthe member 4i] and holding it there by a lock nut 52. The innermost endof each piston 48 is provided with a V-shaped groove 53 communicating bymeans of a small passage 54 with its cylinder.

It will be noted that, as the sliding shaft 22 reciprccates andoscillates by reason of the eccentric drive, as previously described,each piston is also iven a reciprocating and oscillating motion byvirtue of the member which oscillates each piston around its axis byswinging the offset extension 49 of each piston about the piston axisand reciprocates each piston by the reciprocating travel of the shaft22. While regulating nut 51' and bridge 58 are close to the outer andinner faces of the actuating member 40, they are not clamped so tightlyagainst its faces as to prevent oscillating motion of the piston. Thepistons and cylinder, in combination, are individual force feed unitsactuated by the operating mechanism within the housing.

At the beginning of the stroke of each piston, i. e., when the slidingshaft is moved towards the left and the reciprocation of the pistonbegins, oil is drawn into each cylinder below the piston through inletpassage 42, groove 53 and passagefi l. As soon as the suction stroke iscompleted, the actuating member is oscillated, the piston begins itspressure stroke and its groove 53 does not communicate with the inletpassage 42 but instead with the discharge passage 46. Each piston then,during its pressure stroke, discharges oil from the cylinder throughpassage 54, groove 53, discharge passage 46 and finally through outlet41.

55 is a cap screwed into the left hand end of block '2! at 56 forming achamber 51 around the actuating member 40 and the ends of pistons 48. Asshown in Fig. 2 the outlet of preferably the uppermost cylinder in theblock 40, instead of being discharged through 46 and final outlet 4?,has an L-shaped outlet passage 58 communieating with chamber 51. 59 arepassages through the block 49 and also near its top, forming acommunication between chamber 51 and the inside of housing 26.

In Fig. 14 is shown a modification of the L-shaped outlet passage 58from the cylinder. In this figure the L-shaped passage 58 communicateswith the housing 20 instead of directly with the chamber 5?. In allother respects the block 2! and other parts are the same as previouslydescribed.

In an enlarged right hand end portion 59 of the housing 1%! andconcentric with drive shaft 3% is inserted a casing 61 which contains arotary pump for supplying oil and other rotary pump for returning oil,each of a construction well known in the art. The pump for supplying oilconsists of a toothed rotor 62 directly keyed to the end 38 of the driveshaft. This rotor has cooperating with it and surrounding it acorrespondingly shaped component 63 which is eccentrically mountedwithin the casing 55. This rotor is in communication by means of ports64 and 65. in the casing with an inlet 66 and inlet passage 66a in thewall of the housing 25 and similarly by means of ports 61 and 58 in thecasing with an outlet 69 and outlet passage tea in the wall of thehousing 20, as clearly shown in Fig. 13. concentrically disposed withrespect to rotor E32 with component 63, but separated therefrom by aspacer 7B, is the return rotary pump consisting similarly of a toothedrotor ll directly keyed to the end 38 of the drive shaft. The teeth ofthis rotor cooperate with a correspondingly shaped component 12surrounding it and which is eccentrically mounted within the casing 5!.Adjacent the inner end of casing 64 is a flange of a bushing 73. BushingI3 is closely fitted into the housing 28 and together with the casing tiitself serves as a support for the end of the drive shaft 36. The returnrotor communicates by means of a port 74 in bushing it with acorrespondingly shaped port 15 in the housing, the shape of which isseen in Fig. 11, and with an inlet 15 by Way of inlet passage 76a in thewall of the housing. Another port ll through bushing F3 communicateswith a correspondingly shaped port 78 in the housing which in turncommunicates with outlet 19 by way of an outlet passage 79a in the wallof .the housing. 80 is a packing ring between the outer diameter of thecasing and the housing, and BI is a packing ring between the innerdiameter of the housing and the drive shaft. The outer end of easing isflanged at 82 to enable it to be secured conveniently to the end of thehousing 2% by means of screws 83. The end of the drive shaft 35 projectsoutwardly of flange 82 to be attached conveniently to a source of motivepower.

84 is a drain opening in the end wall of the housing and 85 an openingthrough flange S2 of the casing to permit drainage issuing from opening85 to pass through the flange into a sump conveniently located below thelubricator and which is generally also adapted to accumulate drippings,etc., from the engine.

86 is a relief valve held by a spring 8? against and normally closing anopening 88 in a cage 89 secured to the housing by means of a plug 96.Opening 88 communicates by means of a bypass 9! with the outlet passage69a of the supply rotor. Openings 92 in cage 89 are in communicationwith by-pass ducts 93 and 94 leading into 7 and fastened to said shaft,said housing having an inlet and an outlet for each of said rotors, saidsupply rotor delivering oil to the inlet of said block, said returnrotor and its inlet and outlet in the housing forming a return line, andmeans adapted to discharge excess oil between the supply rotor and theblocl: inlet into said return line.

5. In a lubricating device, a housing, mechanical lubricator mechanismof the piston type secured to the housing, said mechanism having an oilinlet and a plurality of oil outlets, operating means for said mechanismincluding a drive shaft supported within the housing, a supply rotor anda return rotor fastened to said drive shaft Within the housing, saidhousing having an inlet and an outlet for each of said rotors, saidsupply rotor delivering oil to the inlet of said mechanism, said returnrotor and its inlet and outlet in the housing forming a return line,said housing having a bypass between the outlet of said supply rotor andthe return line, and a valve normally closing said by-pass adapted to beopened by excess oil pressure between said supply rotor and saidlubricator mechanism.

6. In a lubricating device, a housing, a block secured to the housinghaving an oil inlet and a plurality of oil outlets, a plurality of forcefeed units of the piston type in said block, each unit adapted to drawin oil through said inlet and discharge it from one of said outlets,operating means for said force feed units, a drive sh ft for saidoperating means supported within the housing, a supply rotor and areturn rotor secured to said drive shaft Within the housing, saidhousing having an inlet and an outlet for each or" said rotors, saidsupply rotor delivering oil to the inlet of said block, said returnrotor and its inlet and outlet in the housing forming a return line,said housing having a bypass between the outlet of said supply rotor andthe return line, and a valve normally closing said by-pass adapted to beopened by excess oil pressure between said supply rotor and said block.

7, In a lubricating device, a housing, a block secured to the housinghaving an oil inlet and a plurality of oil outlets, a plurality ofcylinders in the block, each cylinder having an inlet passage incommunication with said oil inlet and an outlet passage in communicationwith one of said oil outlets, an oscillating and reciprocating piston ineach of the cylinders having means for alternatingly placing the inletand outlets in communicatiOn with the cylinder as the piston oscillates,a sliding shaft in the block parallel to said pistons and extending intothe housing, means within the housing for reciprocating and oscillatingsaid shaft about its axis including an eccentric, a worm gear, and adrive shaft supported within the housing operatively connected to saideccentric and gear, a common actuating member fastened to said slidingshaft and connected to said pistons to force them to discharge oil fromsaid outlets, at least one of the outlets of said block being connectedto the housing to discharge oil into it for the lubrication of saiddrive shaft and associated parts, a supply rotor and a return rotorsecured to said drive shaft within the housing, said housing having aninlet and an outlet for each of said rotors, said supply rotordelivering oil to the inlet of said block, said return rotor and itsinlet and outlet in the housing forming a return line, said housinghaving a by-pass between the outlet of said supply rotor and the returnline, and a valve normally closing said by-pass to be opened by excessoil pressure between said supply rotor and said block.

10 8. In a lubricating device, a housing, a block secured to the housinghaving an oil inlet and a plurality of oil outlets, a plurality ofcylinders in the block, each cylinder having an inlet passage incommunication with said oil inlet and an outlet passage in communicationwith one of said oil outlets, an oscillating and reciprocating piston ineach of the cylinders having means for alternatingly placing the inletand outlets in communication with the cylinder as the piston oscillates,a

sliding shaft in the block parallel to said pistons and extending intothe housing, means within the housing for reciprocating and oscillatingsaid shaft about its axis including an eccentric, a worm gear, and adrive shaft supported within the housing operatively connected to saideccentric and gear, a common actuating member fastened to said slidingshaft and connected to said pistons to force them to discharge oil fromsaid outlets, at least one of the outlets of said block being connectedto the housing to discharge oil into it for the lubrication of saiddrive shaft and associated parts, said housing having an overflowopening to carry off surplus oil from within the housing while keepingsaid drive shaft and associated parts submerged in oil, a supply rotorand a return rotor secured to said drive shaft within the housing, saidhousing having an inlet and an outlet for each of said rotors, saidsupply rotor delivering oil to the inlet of said block, said returnrotor and its inlet and outlet in the housing forming a return line,said housing having a by-pass between the outlet of said supply rotorand the return line, and a valve normally closing said by-pass to beopened by excess oil pressure between said supply 4 rotor and saidblock.

BENGT E. FOLKE. RALPH H. SHEPARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

